WHY do you love Muscle Cars and HOW do you afford your hobby?

[DavidSL]

Hey all,

Thought I'd just start a discussion on here - I'm new so if this has been done before numerous times then I apologise and you can politely tell me to shut my yap. If it hasn't, however, or you just want to chime in, please do! 

So, as the question asks, really - why do you love muscle cars?

Personally, I'm pretty new to the scene. I just turned 27 at the end of July, and came home from a month in Australia a little lost with what to do. I need a new job and I need to sort out a long term plan for my life. But I came home and started thinking about other things, too, like hobbies and such. It started with an article about the new Triumph Thunderbird motorbike, and it was the site of that and the engine and all that chrome that got me started down the road. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I realised my dream of owning a muscle car could become a reality if I worked hard and saved hard - and that's how I came to this forum.

Basically I've always loved old cars - but it's only ever been a, 'wow, that's nice!' kind of appreciation. I've never really known what's going on inside the car, nor understood how it all works. I've always wanted to, but I guess I've never had the motivation to - I've always thought that unless I was robbing banks I couldn't possibly ever come close to owning one, and that kept my interest at a distance. Then I read that buying one of these cars isn't so far-fetched, and my interest peaked. So here I am, eagerly eating up as much information on muscle cars and engines and anything else I can learn whilst I plan on just what it is I want.

Anyway, WHY I love muscle cars is because without realising it they are the only cars I've ever truly fallen for. My friend, when I was about 19, became heavily into cars, and when he passed his test he bought a yellow Citroen Saxo, and began to 'supe it up' into a plastic-covered, ridiculous loud, bass-thumping, cringe-inducing and badly driven piece of crap. I wasn't a fan, to say the least. I live in Essex, in the UK, and whilst that might not mean much to those of you in the US, let me sum it up for you – you won't find many muscle cars here. The cars that 'sound' a bit like muscle cars are more than likely smaller than Fiestas and driven by 17 year olds with no understanding of how to drive. White trash, basically. I'm generalising, of course – there are a lot of people here who LOVE cars and everything about them, but there are an awful lot of crappy little buzzy cars with exhausts designed to wake up our French neighbours.

I guess it's also the way muscle cars look – for me in particular my love affair with the Dodge muscle cars – the Charger and the Challenger comes from two different perspectives. The Charger just looks mean. It looks like a beast, and it looks like it could smash anything off the road. And it probably could. The Challenger is a little more subdued, I think. It doesn't have that 'mean' look to it – but once you start the engine then it roars like it's gonna rip you apart. I love both for what they are.

The other question I have for you all is this: how on Earth do you afford to buy and restore these cars?? I can understand the restoration bit – save, restore, save, restore. But I'm assuming that many of you are similar to me, I don't have thousands of pounds sitting about. Even after a year of saving I'm still going to be a bit short of what a lot of dealers are asking for a car in good condition. So where do I go, bank loan? Finance company? It's always been a curiosity of mine about this kind of hobby.

If you made it to the end without skipping, thanks.

If you just skipped to the end, go back, I mention naked college chicks!

Thanks all!

[tricky lugnuts]

Hey David - Welcome to the dark side!

I'm a younger guy like you. Guess I'm lucky and I got my Charger when I was 20. Saved up and bought the cleanest, most rust free, and close to running car I could. Back then that was only about $3,500, though it seems like there are some pretty good deals out there now, with the world on the brink of financial collapse for the past six months and all.

From there it was just a bit of money and some elbow grease before I was out cruising around. Been working on it and learning - and dreaming of all the things I could do if I was a professional millionaire - ever since. There's always something I need to do! Just be patient and stay motivated, that's my advice. Plans work for a reason!

Might be a bit different in the UK, though. It does seem like it would be an inherently more expensive hobby over there since all of the cars were produced and sold over here. I like my Charger for too many reasons to list. To me it just seems like what a car should be.

Best of luck!

[41husk]

I was born in 1961, so I was in my teens in the mid 70's.  These cars were every were.  School parking lots, churches, grocery stores, and used car lots.  It was not uncommon to see an elderly lady roll out of a Charger, Mustang or Camaro in those days.  my wife tells me, not having any of the cars I desired in my youth, is what makes me want to own so many now?
As far as affording them, Not sure, but I own some rental property and lets just say there are some months that income never makes it to the bank

[mauve66]

it sits in my garage for 10 years is how i afford it

[tan top]

why did i get a  charger !! because its the Badest!  meanest !best looking car of all time  &  along with the rest of the mopar muscle cars !! are the ultimate  
 can sit looking at my charger for hours still !! even with out driving it !! its shape & the look ! its perfect !! & when you get in & crank the motor !! Awww man      

had  mine for just over 20 years ,  , wanted one since i saw DMCL & bullet  in the late 70s  & then DOH  ,  how did i afford  to restore it  good question    well  my labour time was free  , done every thing my self except re chrome the bumpers & put the tires on the wheels  , stripped every nut bolt clip !!   been in the motor trade since i left school  , mechanic / body & paint  & anything else thats left in between    

[1969chargerrtse]

Something no one can really explain.  No different then why some people like to paint, hunt and fish,  or be a dancer or actor. My dad was into comic books and hero's as a teen.  In 69 big bad powerful cars were the thing and us old fellas just dream back to when we were kids and reinact it.  My kids like video games and have no interest in my interest as I had little in my dads, and on and on.

[bull]

If you're going to rob something don't rob a bank because it's a federal offence and they really throw the book at you. Try some sort of fraud instead.

How do I make the money for it? Well, I save a little at a time, usually $200 a month or so when I can. If and when there's overtime available at work I jump on it and squirrel that away. One two-week stint I worked enough to make almost three paychecks in one. When I can I just save up as much money as possible to use for the next big expense. I managed to save enough money last winter to pay for the engine, trans and front end rebuild which is taking place right now. Where I work we usually get more overtime in the winter if/when it snows so I'm hoping for lots of snow and ice this winter to put me over the top finally. I think I can probably get her road worthy with another $3k or so.

As to why I love the Charger? It's hard to explain and define love but the first time I saw a second gen Charger I knew I had to have one. The feelling hasn't subsided. It had fluctuated from time to time depending on how things are going at any given moment but I know it will be worth all the hassles in the end.

[Ghoste]

Why do I love them?  Wow, I've asked myself that so many times and it's usually connected tothe second part of your question.
I guess a lot of the reason is because my dad was into performance cars and even though I was too young to drive them when they were new, I was old enough to be aware of them and what they were.  When I started driving in the 70's, the oil embargo had just happened and nobody wanted musclecars.  You could buy them so unbelievably cheap and now, I just haven't found a hobby I like better.
I also grew up in small farming communities where there was not much else to do.  No movie theaters and limited sports.  I wasn't big enough to play things like football, too unathletic for baseball and we were too poor for me to get involved in hockey.  So outside of throw together games with my buddies, that left hunting and fishing which the government around here increasingly made tougher and music or cars.  I play a little guitar because my dad did that as well and got into the car thing.  I had to drive to get to that other thing that teenage boys love so much- teenage girls.  Remember the part about musclecars being super cheap when I started driving?
I really don't know how I afford it.  I don't smoke or do drugs and as much as I love beer I try to keep it in moderation.  That helps a LOT.  There are likely a bunch of other things I don't do that my non-car friends do so I guess I afford the way others do, you sacrifice the things you don't really want or need to save money for this.  It's just that some of us are able to do it at a faster rate than others.
Welcome to the hobby David but know that once it gets you, very few escape.

[oldrock]

I've got the simple answer to the first part... we love muscle cars because they are a nice way to remember what was cool about our history. A time when we didn't worry about emissions controls or good mileage. It was a time when we really wanted cars to look as good as they peroformed and used more steel than plastic. I love old muscle cars.

As for how to afford it... I think anyone can get a muscle car if they really want one. My son Josh is the perfect example. He grew up hearing me tell stories of my muslce car so decided he wanted his first car to be one too. We had to look pretty hard but found his 72 charger field fresh for a very reasonable price. We had to put some work to get it back running but did it over the summer and how he has a charger to drive. He has been paying for it over time and he only makes about $100/week mowing yards, etc.

Bottom line is if you want a muscle car bad enough and are willing to do alot of looking, they are still out there at good prices.  So go get ya one

[lisiecki1]

I think the biggest draw to WHY I love muscle cars would probably be the time I remember spending with my dad working on his 67 GTX and later working on my 73 Charger.  As far as affording....I was lucky....I bought my 73 charger in 1995 while I was in high school for $1500.00.....I'm also lucky in that it appears to be one of the "cleaner" starting points as opposed to some other projects on the site....but that's where the luck stops....when I decided to tear it down and rebuild it from the ground up I had high hopes to be done in 2 - 3 years, but life happens.  The car has been apart for 10 years now, and i'll be blessed to get it back together in the next 2.

[68X426]

How to make love to a muscle car? Is that the question? 

I'm just a 19 year old living in a 52 year old body. I get to do at 52 what I could not afford to do at 19.

Life is good, but remember it took me 52 years to get here. 

[PocketThunder]

1) In 1975 I rode home from the hospital when i was born in my Dads 1973 Road Runner, i was hooked ever since.

2) Get a good job, find a cheap place to rent, and dont get:
   A) Married
   B) Buy a house
   C) Have Kids
Otherwise you have to wait 10~15 years before you catch up to having spare car money again.   

Paul
(married with a mortgage and 3 kids)   

[GPULLER]

My family has always been Mopar. 
I bought my first '66 in '89 as high school senior for $100, wasn't my first choice for a Mopar but it was cheap.  Spent damn near every dime of my graduation money and the summer getting it running.  Mom was pissed!
Bought my current '66 few years later for $170, parts car for my first '66.  The "new" Charger was in far better shape so drive train was swapped.
It pretty much hasn't changed in 16 years, has had to sit in the shed for a bunch of those years because of no money to spend on it.  Just a driver to have fun with.
After fall farm work is done is when I have extra money to spend on my toys.
Being married, house payment, kids always seems there is other more important things to spend cash on.

Hey...I re-read that post, still don't see anything about college chicks....got pics?   

[Musicman]

I have always found that fixing up an old car and keeping it running, is a lot cheaper than buying a new one... and better still... when your done, you still have something to show for the money that you spent... something you can take pride in You won't turn any heads driving around town in your new Camry. Speaking of which... Another big bonus is the fact that it is also possible for you as the owner to work on your own vehicle

No car payments
Property taxes are a joke
Dirt cheap insurance
The list goes on...

Your just not part of the system anymore...

[Ponch ®]

I couldn't tell you why I love muscle cars. It's one of those abstract things, like "why do you like a nice set of DD's and firm ass on a 21 year old blonde"? One just does.

[41husk]

I couldn't tell you why I love muscle cars. It's one of those abstract things, like "why do you like a nice set of DD's and firm ass on a 21 year old blonde"? One just does.

[Brock Samson]

well David there have been a few or more posts on this,.. sorry,.. these very subjects,..
I, being nearly twice your age, have quite specific formulative year imprinting that made the Dodge Charger My Favorite Car...
I afforded it by working two good paying jobs that also allowed me to float my band as well, Music being my other great love in my life, besides getting laid of course... but the first two helped alot in pursuit of the third..

[Finn]

I couldn't tell you why I love muscle cars. It's one of those abstract things, like "why do you like a nice set of DD's and firm ass on a 21 year old blonde"? One just does.

[tricky lugnuts]

Agreed - well said Ponch! But there's more to life than blondes. Just read some of the other threads on this forum about redheads and brunettes!!!

[jaak]

I just love mopar muscle.
My main funding for my hobby is money I make on the side, buy something to flip, selling parts on ebay, etc. The only time I every really buy anything out of my paycheck is when I work alot of overtime.
One of my best flips was a real nice '99 S10 pickup....only 90k miles, had a bad tranny. Nice clean truck, I paid $500 for the truck, 900 for the trans rebuild, and about 80 bucks on misc. 1480 total, sold it for 3700. Needless to say the Charger got many presents  

Jason

[Magnumcharger]

OK....
I've been into Mopars ever since I was 14, when my big brother took me for a ride in his 1966 Monaco with a 383/4spd. I guess it was the power that hooked me, as well as the big chrome reversed mags on the back with 60 series tires.(Or maybe it was the fact that he unintentionally drove over a large Tonka toy laying in the road, without battling an eye...).
In his basement, he had an old 392 Hemi that he was fixing up (he was a mechanic in the Army at the time), and all he could talk about was how great Hemis were!
That would have been 1976 or so, which is funny, because there certainly were a fair amount of Hemi-cars roaming the streets back then.
Along around that time, my sister started dating another Mopar nut who drove a B5 1969 Roadrunner, and a 1970 Duster 340. And of course, he spent all of his time extolling the virtues of the almighty Hemis, as he tried to scare me to death by drifting his Duster around 90 degree corners at full speed!
I got my first car, a 1969 Barracuda Formula 'S' 340 in 1978. As I was in High School, I hung around with all of the "motorheads" in the shop class. Even though most of them were admittedly hardcore Chevy freaks, they all seemed to have an overwhelming respect for anything associated with a Hemi.
So I guess it was right about then I decided I had to find a way into a Hemi-car, either as a driver, or at the very least, a passenger.
Long story short: It's been 27 years since I graduated high school. (I still have all of my notebooks with the margins full of Mopar and Hemi doodling)! But I've yet to find myself in a Hemi-car of any description. In the meantime, I've owned and abused practically every other conceivable incarnation of Mopar power, but never the singular entity I've always considered to be the "ultimate Mopar Muscle engine".
I figure that someday, after my kids are out of my house and wallet, my '68 Charger R/T will be the host of the almighty 426 of my dreams.
I'm turned 47 this past August. It now seems kind of ridiculous that even after all of these years I'd still be pursuing that same fanciful dream I had as a skinny lad.
For my inspiration, I recall an article in an old issue of Motor Trend, I'm thinking it was the July of 1978 copy. The article was called "In search of the Good Ride", (Subtitled: A greenhorn on the loose...and looking for power).
If you ever find it, read it...it's the best article about musclecars and Mopars I've ever read!

As far as affording anything....I bought shitty cars that nobody else wanted...and fixed them up myself.
I also went to school to learn how to fix them, then went to school again to learn the skills needed to make the money to buy them!
So, as I tell my kids:
Get the education first - then the job - then the wife - then the family - then the toys.

[mally69]

I love them becuase they have badass looks and sound great and run just as good. Im only 24 i have a 69 r/t that i bought and built a few years ago and now i am working on my 68 that i have, I built a 512 wedge for it.

Part 2 of your question, how do i afford it. I got a decent job that pays the bills. I have nothing, other than my cars, extra parts my truck and a bunch of guns, and thats it.

[mauve66]

this thread will tell you alot about our influences, some of which aren't even possible in todays world for various reasons


http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,55984.0.html

[Landonsrt]

Welcome David. I cant afford my project at the moment. As alot of us cant. Its not going to stop me . Just have to do it a little at a time.

[1969chargerrtse]

1) In 1975 I rode home from the hospital when i was born in my Dads 1973 Road Runner, i was hooked ever since.

2) Get a good job, find a cheap place to rent, and dont get:
   A) Married
   B) Buy a house
   C) Have Kids
Otherwise you have to wait 10~15 years before you catch up to having spare car money again.   

Paul
(married with a mortgage and 3 kids)   

I know a guy with 3 Wing cars, 2 being hemi powered.
I asked him, how do you afford cars like these?
He raised his hand, spread his fingers and said " All wings, no rings "  End of story.

[Cooter]

Well, I do ALOT of hustling to afford my hobby...I buy and sell parts, cars, etc. to afford to put money into cars..I also do ALOT of side work although @37 it's beginning to take it's toll now...I find myself growing tired of listening to how someone gets me to do all the work to their car only to hear that they only have half or less of the money now that it's finished...Paint jobs are the worst..While it may take me a few years to get to where some are in a minute, I can honestly say at a car show or cruise night that I DID IT...The "Buy it now" guys who just Armour-All tires and fill it up with gas can't do that....There is something to be said for someone who has had to "Pay their dues" in this hobby for me...I'm not at all interested in the guy that just bought  that Hemi Challenger R/T done, I'm after the old, ratty, Primered Dodge with the Supercharger poking through the hood and torn, ripped, seats and no carpet, with a busted windshield cause he/she doesn't have the money to get everything fixed right away...The first thing I ask someone at a car show is "What did you do to it?" This is to find out if they have had to "Pay their dues" as well...I spent 2 1/2 years on the General Lee and another 5 years on Christine...All that time I had to keep the "Sell it!" feelings at bay, the "WTF did I get myself into" feelings at bay...It takes a Real committment to do that and I'm the first to commend anybody who has "Paid their dues"......

[mikesbbody]

I'm into it because Muscle car's are Bad Ass! Bad guy's drive Charger's  Muscle car's are a By gone era of when things use to be awesome. Now, your lucky to smoke the tires on most modern cars when you hit the gas and as for Torque...Forget about it! I just get such a high whenever I get to drive my Charger if someone doesn't get it then I wont bother explaining (you either get it or you don't) I cant really afford the hobby I just do the best I can over time.
I don't have a high paying job but I don't have a family to support either 

[Charger440RDN]

I have loved chargers since i was 4 years old and I used to watch Dukes of Hazzard on friday nights. The charger is the first car i ever liked and decided to draw pictures of as a kid. That show is what got me hooked on liking muscle and speed.
 
  I remember my dad took me to this car place in Tampa, FL when i was 6 and there were several General Lee's there for some reason. I got to sit behind the wheel of one, this had to be about 1983 and I knew that someday I would have to own one and the feeling has not changed, I'm still hunting for the right Charger to buy and I'm 33 years old  

[SFRT]

1960's musclecars represent the pinnacle of american bad-assedness. I was a teenager in California in the 70's and it was a paradise of cheap cars. I had my share, and never stopped loving them.



I dont drink, do drugs or buy expensive clothes and jewelry. No debts, no kids.  My wife supports the car and bike thing 110%. makes it a lot easier.I pay all the bills, set aside X for savings and household needs and the rest is for the cars and bikes. no arguments, no hassles. I currently have a 2 year budget laid out for building the drag car and putting the final polish on the Charger. This allows me to

1. focus
2. if I need the REALLY nicer part, I know if I just wait a little longer I can get it.

[Brock Samson]

 BTW:
here's one of my favorite threads that deal with the subject, and i think will make for some good reading...

  "how and why you got your first charger"   
  http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,10109.0.html

[Tilar]

Hey all,

If you just skipped to the end, go back, I mention naked college chicks!

Thanks all!

Ok, I went back and read it twice and I'm still looking for the naked college chicks!    


All joking aside,  I've had 3 or 4 Chargers and more Dusters than I can count. All of them were cheap by todays standards. The most I've ever paid for one was the one I have now. When I was 29 I paid $400 for it looking like this, It was back in 1986:




My son is now 3 years older than I was when I bought it and it still looks the same. Life just got in the way of restoring it until now.

I'm just a 19 year old living in a 52 year old body. I get to do at 52 what I could not afford to do at 19.

Life is good, but remember it took me 52 years to get here. 

Same here, I feel like I did then but it's sure a different face looking back at me in the mirror than it was back then. 

[400/6/PAC]

I think for us older Guy's and Gal's, We love them because that's what We grew up with.
For a lot of us, What We consider an old muscle car was what We learned to drive in, and in many cases, was our first car.
As for the money, You have to give up any other hobbies or fun activity for the next few years.
I basically sat in My garage for six years working on the car.
Wow, this just made Me realize, I'm an old man with no life.

[Cooter]

I guess I'll answer the second part of this question I missed some how..


I guess the reason I love the old skool Musclecars is that when I was coming of age in the small town of Nelson County Va, All the older guys AND some of the gals drove older cars even for them...They all were LOUD, some had "Things" stickin' up through the hood, and almost all of 'em were at the local Dairy Isle on Friday and Sat. nights...Two of these cars were constantly street racing one another..My best friend in HS had a cousin named Bruce, who had a 1967 Plymouth Satellite..It was a factory 383-4speed car. He would go back and forth between 4-speed and auto..
The other was a guy named James, who had a 1970 Chevy El-camino with a 402 which was built by Bruce's brother...Hence the rivalry...My best friend and I couldn't wait to go down to the local hangout and watch 'em line 'em up...

Bruce would win one night, then the next weekend James would win and so on....One night a Blue '68 Charger R/T showed up and nobody had seen the car before...Dude never got out of it, just sat there eating...
Of course Bruce and James were thinkin' the same thing we were...
It didn't take long for the inevidable to happen...Yep, Bruce pulled out onto the asphalt, along with James and they made a pass...Bruce won...Then as Bruce was coming back, That Blue R/T pulled out in the road......You could hear a pin drop...I was thinkin' "Oh man! dude must be crazy".....Well, when the flagman dropped his hands, Bruce and the Charger were off..The Charger pulled about 3 lengths ahead and then left and never came back....Bruce pulled in and ask'd "Where'd he go?"
Nobody new who it was or even what was in it..We've never seen the car since...This was what I thought of when I heard Brute Horsepower and Torque..I can't look at a 650 HP Honda the same way for whatever reason... Another quick story bout my automechanics teacher in HS's Roadrunner...

I lost my father in 1985 at the age of 13 and never had a "Cool" father figure till I met Mike Gray..He was a "Cool" guy..He liked the LOUD cars..
I had just bought a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere II..He was helping me build it..I ask'd him about a story i had heard from some of the locals about a certain '68 RoadRunner with a 4-speed being turned a loose in the town of Lovingston  @ midnight one night and if it was true....
He laughed and looked at the teacher's aid guy, then they both smiled...
He began to tell the story...He had just finished building a 383 with twin fours and a 4-speed..He wanted to try it out, so he pulls out in main street lovingston and in his words, "Wound it up till the pistons swapped holes and popped the clutch"...The car was loud with open headers and was sideways for most of the 1/8 mile or so he traveled....After gettin' back to the garage, the local police showed up and knocked on the door..They ask'd him if he'd been "out" in this car..... He said "Nope" just got it together...LOL...

[Charger440RDN]

The era i grew up in which is the 1980's and 1990's had some really crappy cars, the muscle car era was long dead so a lot of kids my age never even talked about muscle cars or knew what one was. So if you see anybody under 34 interested in muscle cars it is kind of a small miracle when you consider the crap that we see on the roads everyday.
 
Although I believe that the new challenger & Camaro and the mustang might get kids back interested in muscle again, otherwise HOW WILL THEY KNOW WHAT MUSCLE IS? WHY WILL KIDS CARE? unless they have parents to teach them, they won't care.   Sorry I'm getting off topic but i just wanted to rant 

[Mr.Woolery]

I came from a different "car guy" background than musclecar enthusiasts.  My Dad used to be a "gentleman racer" who roadraced back in the 50's/60's...only he was one of the guys who took the "lighter is better" approach.  He raced small displacement lightweight cars (ie, Abarth 750's, Fiats, etc).  He took great pleasure in racing his small cars against the larger musclecars on the road racing circuit.  As a result, he tended to discourage any interest I would show for the "heavy" cars as he would put it.  The car I learned to drive in was a small, 3-cylinder 40hp econobox...a Chevy Sprint (progenitor to the Geo Metro).  Not exactly an enthusiasts car, but I DID learn to drive properly in it, practicing all the racing techniques my Dad taught me to eke every last drop of performance out of that wheezy little car.

My automotive enthusiasm continued to grow and I ended up becoming involved in autocrossing, road racing, HPDE's, restoring, and modifying small lightweight sports cars.  This enthusiasm eventually overflowed from the "automotive genre" I'd been raised within, and I started to branch out to see what other kinds of cool cars were out there.

I found that there was a wide, wide world of automotive awesomeness out there to be enjoyed.  I'd already had three remarkable (within their genres) cars in my mini "collection" by this time, but found that their focus was a bit too narrow (all were small 2 passenger, lightweight sports cars).  I wanted my next car to be something completely different.  Considering the economy and my enthusiasm for the hobby, I decided I was in a good position to get involved in the musclecar genre.  It was funny to see my Dad's reaction--he thought I was bonkers.  
However, it made sense to go in this direction because I'd been spending a lot of time enjoying musclecars and hot rods from afar (attending car shows, etc) without having actually owned one yet.  The choice was a fairly easy one, too.  I'd been really attracted to the designs found in the 3rd gen B body cars (Charger/Roadrunner), and their prices made them quite attainable as a nice project car, too.

So I went looking and found myself a nice '71 Charger project car.  it'll take years to finish considering my means and abilities, but that's all part of the fun.  My last restomod project took 5 years (I built a custom Miata) and the result was worth the hard work--it gets lots of positive attention at the car shows from people you wouldn't expect to appreciate this kind of car (ie: hotrodders, track junkies, and classic car enthusiasts).  I'm looking forward to having that same fun, long term project car experience with my Charger.  I'm finding that, so far, the Charger is almost laughably simple to work on compared to my previous projects, which makes this project pure fun.  It's like working on a Radio Flyer wagon!  The Charger currently runs and is nearly streetable...so the near to mid term plans are to make it into a "work in progress" street rod.  The final product years from now will be something really nice.

How can I afford it?  I can't say that I'm rich, I just have a regular guy kind of job.  I think the secret is in the pace--you save money for the car here and there and do little projects along the way.  Baby steps.  It might take years, but so long as you enjoy the journey, the project stays fun.  With that philosophy, I've been able to completely restomod a custom car, build airplanes (real ones), and even save up to buy an exotic collectible car. 

I try to spend at least a few minutes a day on each of my projects, even if it's just a little thing.  I also set aside a few bucks here and there each paycheck.  Eventually those little steps add up to something bigger.  At the moment, I'm working on a pair of '71 R/T doors.  It'll probably be months before they end up on the car, but eventually they'll get there.  Just keep pluggin' away...

[TylerCharger69]

I can afford it???

[tab73]

I think right now who can afford it?? I saved tips and scrimped for over a year to buy my charger to start fixing up. The way i look at it is.... it does not cost me a penny for it to sit in my garage! I can buy a part here and there and do anything that I can myself. I know I will have to really save long and hard for the big things but isnt that what makes it so so nice when you finally get something new for it!

[69rtse4spd]

Fell in love with the body style when my brother had three 69 Chargers. I was around age 10 [be 50 in OCT.} still love them. Frist car is a 69 S.E.{still have it], two other 69 S.E.s & a 70. Collected cars & from day one & became a tool & die maker, working for G.M. Do alot of my owne stuff, but will farm out or trade for some stuff [not getting any younger]. You have to have a hobby be it two wheel or four wheels or two legged, it all cost money. It is only paper and if you can not have fun with it, why work for it.  

[DavidSL]

Some great stories, and thanks for the additional links, been reading through them with great interest!

My ultimate goal is to own a car I love looking at, love driving, and can just hop in and out whenever I want. I'm not looking to 'restore' a car and then sell it on for profit, I'm looking for a car I can keep and fall in love with. Of course, it will be a normal kind of love, not some weird auto-sexual thing... 

The Charger and the Challenger are my cars of choice. Which one largely depends on what I decide when I have the money - I've kindly been told of a Challenger that could be available but I just don't have the money for it yet. Basically, if I get Charger I know exactly what I want to do to it - the same with the Challenger. The Challenger is a little simpler - I want the 'Vanishing Point' car, basically. I want to replicate it, but I don't want a clone. I have a feeling that's gonna be tough.

But I'm still new to this 'hobby'. I have always been in love with the muscle cars - and just classic cars in general I suppose - but those V8s are what make the decision easier. I live in a place where we just don't see them, except at car shows (which I must start going to!). So it'd be nice to be 'different' and turn up events with a car that people stop and ask questions about.


Anyway, thanks again, keep the replies coming - I'm really enjoying all these stories!! 

[mauve66]

Some great stories, and thanks for the additional links, been reading through them with great interest!

My ultimate goal is to own a car I love looking at, love driving, and can just hop in and out whenever I want. I'm not looking to 'restore' a car and then sell it on for profit, I'm looking for a car I can keep and fall in love with. Of course, it will be a normal kind of love, not some weird auto-sexual thing... 

The Charger and the Challenger are my cars of choice. Which one largely depends on what I decide when I have the money - I've kindly been told of a Challenger that could be available but I just don't have the money for it yet. Basically, if I get Charger I know exactly what I want to do to it - the same with the Challenger. The Challenger is a little simpler - I want the 'Vanishing Point' car, basically. I want to replicate it, but I don't want a clone. I have a feeling that's gonna be tough.

But I'm still new to this 'hobby'. I have always been in love with the muscle cars - and just classic cars in general I suppose - but those V8s are what make the decision easier. I live in a place where we just don't see them, except at car shows (which I must start going to!). So it'd be nice to be 'different' and turn up events with a car that people stop and ask questions about.


Anyway, thanks again, keep the replies coming - I'm really enjoying all these stories!! 

trust me, its always connected to sex, if you spend too much time or money on the car you won't get any sex

[elanmars]

I grew up in the early 80s when there were still some muscle left here and there. At a young age, I said to myself those are the kind of cars I want when I start driving, thinking in my small little brain that they'd be around just as easy as new cars! if only...I'm also a product of having seen the dukes of hazzard at a young, impressionable age and just seeing movies and tv shows from that time, I always thought the muscle cars looked the best. I liked the sound, the styling, the CHARACTER these cars have. Even old 4 door cars have a certain personality that's pretty much all lost in today's designs. I don't care that cars nowadays are more comfortable or "aero-dynamic", visually, most of them are quite dull to my eyes. This is coming from a guy who's majoring in photography, been drawing since an early age, so I got that art-sensibility thing.

as for affording...I don't know. I don't go out to eat much, I'm still in school. But I did collect star wars toys, comic books, video games for quite a while and that helped fund my purchase for the '73 I got (and its helped in all the work and things I've had to purchase for the '69). I loved the car-and wish I could have kept it but I can only afford one and have room for only one-I've always wanted a 68 or 69 more and the chance came up, so I took it. I sold the '73 for a bit more than I paid for it, got the '69 for a price I never thought would ever be realistic for a guy with my means. I still can't believe I have a '69 Charger...even though I got it at a great price, it's turned out to be more work than expected (I've seen cars in worse condition go for more), as it came with really shoddy body work and some mechanical things here and there done extremely poor. I haven't driven it in almost 2 months now, I'm still waiting on the body work and paint to be done, as I'm having a friend do it. I wish I had the time and space to learn and do it myself but I don't. I'm very busy with school and work and have a baby on the way. The car is coming along pretty nice, though it's taking quite a while and I'm getting very anxious about it.

My plan was to have it baby-ready before my baby arrives but that doesn't seem to be the case. I still have AC and sound deadener to worry about and as much as the 400 it's got in it kicks a WHOLE lot of ass, I'm going to turn it back to it's somewhat original, humble beginnings as a 318 down the road. I need the gas mileage and I've never been the kind of person to race or have a lead foot, I'm more of a cruiser type. I figure in a few years, maybe I can put in a 6.1 hemi or something. I've only been able to afford all this so far due to cutting corners, saving up, selling things, doing odd jobs here and there with photography. My car isn't going to be a show car, it's a daily driver, it's a little rough around the edges but it's solid and a bad-ass super driver of the asphalt seas.

[DavidSL]

Like a lot of you, I'm pretty lucky in terms of my outgoing expenditure - I pretty much quit drinking a few months ago, I go out every week with my friends but we are all bar types, so I can pretty much get by on £10 a night (we all do rounds and there are a few of us, so it works out!  ). Ashamedly, but rather helpfully at the moment, I live at home, so I'm not throwing my money down the drain on rent (which is becoming alarmingly ridiculous). So I pay my way at home, but it works out a lot cheaper than moving out right now. With all that together, and hopefully getting a new job soon, saving enough to buy and start work on one of these cars is a realistic 2-year goal. That, of course, depends. I've seen Challengers in great condition for around $40000, and Chargers in great condition over here for around £17000, which is around $30000. I'm not yet decided on which I'd go for, it depends on what I find and where. Location is important in terms of what I spend, from the US the car may be cheaper, but the import tax and shipping is going to raise it somewhat.

I'm not going to let this get in the way of my life, but I take the same view as another poster said earlier - it's all just paper - if you can't have fun with it what's the point in working for it? Yes, other people are always going to be a factor - but for now, and whilst I can, I'm going to put every penny away so I can get this dream started. 

[Brock Samson]

 Good luck with your goals, but it's alot harder getting into these old muscle cars these days and especially outside the U.S. your gonna have to have a good plan and good paying job no matter what... I'd suggest you start with a decent runner because it sounds like you have neither the resources or ability to build a basket case up yourself.
So if you can get a running complete project car you can do stuff as it becomes possible.
BTW Dave, Living at home isn't a bad way to go, some people don't have homes. Appreciate it. 

[DavidSL]

Thanks Brock,

Yeah, my idea is to save AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE before I even start a serious search for the car of my dreams. At the moment I'm certainly looking around, but only to learn, get advice, and know where to look in the future. I'd be much more willing to spend that extra cash on a car that only really needs cosmetic changes - I'd quite happily buy a car in great shape if the body was all scratched up (just surface damage, obviously) if I knew I could quite easily get a new lick of body paint on there. I'm not looking to buy the perfect car - it can be the wrong colour, have the wrong engine in it, have wheels I don't like or an interior the colour of which I wouldn't even want to touch - so long as it runs, and runs well. Cosmetic changes I can deal with. That's the goal, anyway. I just know what I want car wise - either a '68/70 Charger, or a 1970 Challenger R/T.

Living at home isn't something that worries me, it's just when you reach 27, you kinda start feeling like you're outstaying your welcome... 

Still, a car like those around here would surely justify that in the end! 

[Chad L. Magee]

So, as I tell my kids:
Get the education first - then the job - then the wife - then the family - then the toys.

Very good advice, MagnumCharger.  I have the first two down now, but don't know if I will get to the rest for a long time yet. (OH wait, I skipped a few steps as I have my toys, they are just not restored yet ).....

    As for why do we love our cars?  I would respond that they are time machines in their own right, as they take us to trips back to our youth, even without turning a key.  I remember them as a kid being dirt cheap because they were just used cars that ate expensive gas like it was out of style.  Later on, they could be found in junkyards and hidden behind barns if you looked hard enough for a project to start from.  Nowdays, those areas have been mostly mined out, since people started to professionally hunt these cars as a profession, rather than a hobby.  While it is nice that the rich can afford to by restored cars, not everyone can, so there becomes a bit of a quest (which sometimes is more fun than working on the actual car) to find the next hidden gem to restore (and hopefully keep).  Being the oddball guy, the quest to find and track the rare ones keeps me in the game......

[Back N Black]

This is why we love muscle cars........because its not just a car.


JUST A CAR!
> From time to time, people tell me, "lighten up, it's just a car,"
> or,"that's a lot of money for "just a car".
> They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the
> costs involved for "just a car." Some of my proudest moments have come
> about with "just a car."
> Many hours have passed and my only company was "just a car," but I did
> not once feel slighted. Some of my saddest moments have been brought
> about by "just a car", and in those days of darkness, the simple sound
> of "just a car" gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.
> If you, too, think it's "just a car", then you will probably
> understand phrases like "just a friend," "just a sunrise," or "just a
> promise."
> "Just a car" brings into my life the very essence of friendship,
> trust, and pure unbridled joy.
> "Just a car" brings out the compassion and patience that make me a
> better person.
> Because of "just a car" I will rise early, labour long weekends, and
look
> longingly to gearhead magazines.
> So for me and folks like me, it's not "just a car" but an embodiment
> of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the
> past, and the pure joy of the moment.
> "Just a car" brings out what's good in me and diverts my thoughts
> away.
> I hope that someday they can understand that it's not "just a car"
> but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being "just a
man."
> So the next time you hear the phrase "just a car" just smile, because
> they "just" don't understand.
>

[Ghoste]

Wow, right click-save. 

[68X426]